EXCLUSIVE
A private schoolgirl has been caught drink-driving in one of Australia’s most exclusive areas after crashing her car and telling police a series of different stories in an attempt to cover herself.
Coco Potgieter, daughter of leading Sydney artist Johann Potgieter, graduated last year Frensham College in the N.S.W Southern Highlands, a $33,000 per year ladies’ boarding school.
P-plater, 19, was driving her Subaru SUV in Darling Point in Sydney’s eastern suburbs about 2am on October 3 after drinking with friends.
Potgieter, a former house captain, attempted to make a U-turn on Darling Point Road but drove into the curb and crashed her car with a blown tire after losing control of the vehicle.
Potgieter is the second 2022 Frensham graduate to be caught drink-driving in Sydney’s east in the past month, after her friend and fellow house captain Paris Ow-Yang was arrested in nearby Point Piper on October 18.
Coco Potgieter, 19, blew 0.082 when she crashed her car while driving in exclusive Darling Point last month
Fellow Frensham Paris house captain Ow-Yang (above) also recently pleaded guilty to drink driving
Ow-Yang pleaded guilty to drink-driving and was fined $1,000, had her driver’s license revoked for nine months and an interlock installed for 24 months.
Police facts tendered to Downing Center Local Court in Potgieter’s drink-driving charge say that after the crash she then reversed her car onto Darling Point Road and parked it near the corner of McKell Park.
The facts show that the weather was nice at that time, the street lights were on and there was little traffic on the street with a 50 km/h zone.
When police arrived in response to a report of a collision, they saw Potgieter standing near the parked car with “a number of friends,” playing music in the usually serene neighborhood.
Officers noticed that someone was trying to replace the blown tire, that the front of the car had suffered “extensive damage” and that the engine was “noticeably warm to the touch.”
When they began interviewing Potgieter, the suspect “stated that she did not know how the damage to her vehicle occurred and that it may have been ‘things in transit.’
‘Over a period of approximately 30 minutes, police gave the suspect multiple opportunities to provide an accurate version of events, to which she continually changed her story.’
When police spoke to Potgieter’s friends, they said she had attempted to make the U-turn at the end of Darling Point Road before losing control.
Coco Potgieter, above with her father Johann, is the second Frensham girl caught drink-driving in Sydney’s elite eastern suburbs last month
At 2:50 a.m., police spoke again with Potgieter, who agreed that she had driven the vehicle, which was in an agreed parking spot at 2 a.m. before she got behind the wheel.
“The suspect was unsure when she would leave, so she decided to move her vehicle,” police said.
‘When asked how much alcohol she had consumed before driving the car, she was unsure.’
But police say Potgieter then said she would be “below the legal limit for a full-time driver.”
The 19-year-old, who held a P2 licence, referred to the fact that provisional license holders must have a blood alcohol limit of zero, but unrestricted holders can drive with a blood alcohol level of less than 0.05.
Potgieter crashed during a U-turn at the end of Darling Point Road (above) and then gave different versions of events to police
The police officers who attended the scene gave Potgieter a roadside breath test, which registered positive, immediately placed her under arrest and took her to Waverley police station.
“Police observed that the suspect … had glassy eyes and slurred speech and that she was intoxicated (and) could smell intoxicating liquor on the suspect.”
Further analysis by Potgieter gave her a blood alcohol level of 0.082, which was 1.64 times higher than the legal limit for full driver’s license holders.
Last week, Potgieter pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol before Deputy Chief Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis and her driver’s license was revoked for three months.
He placed a 12-month restraining order on Potgieter and fined her $800.